Civilization V in easy mode?
May 3, 2013 11:29 AM Subscribe
I really enjoy the idea of games like Civilization V. The perspective, the aesthetic, and the basic premise of what is happening appeal to me a lot. However, even playing through the tutorial, the level of complexity gets to a point where my eyes glaze over a bit, and I don't enjoy playing. I like the feel of a world simulation and the fundamental competition over resources, but it gets too much too quickly. To give you an idea, I really like old-school Risk (the level of complexity is just right), but I dislike games with the complexity of Axis and Allies. Is there a way (like through a mod) that simplifies the rules of Civilization V? Or is there a way to play it such that the micromanaging aspect of it disappears a bit? I would like a very streamlined rule set with a bit of variation in possible play style.
I was going to come in to recommend Civilization Revolution, which strips away a lot of the micromanagement -- a good thing imo.
posted by crazy with stars at 11:40 AM on May 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by crazy with stars at 11:40 AM on May 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
Just play Civ 3 instead. It was the best one and it was a lot less complex.
posted by chaiminda at 11:48 AM on May 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by chaiminda at 11:48 AM on May 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
Hm, well.
If you want to make Civ like Risk you could just choose a very warlike (eg, Genghis Khan) Civ and focus all your research on military. Crank out units and generally be an asshole to everyone. If you set it to the easiest level you'll probably be able to ignore a lot of things so long as you keep winning battles.
posted by Tevin at 11:54 AM on May 3, 2013
If you want to make Civ like Risk you could just choose a very warlike (eg, Genghis Khan) Civ and focus all your research on military. Crank out units and generally be an asshole to everyone. If you set it to the easiest level you'll probably be able to ignore a lot of things so long as you keep winning battles.
posted by Tevin at 11:54 AM on May 3, 2013
I haven't played Civ 5 for awhile now . . .
But, I was pretty sure the game allowed you to have your advisers do nearly everything for you. In the cases where it wasn't automatic, they would still give the best calculated suggestion.
I found, more than many Civ games before, you could focus yourself on troop movement. I even believe you can tell your advisers what you want to focus on and they'll build your empire in that direction.
I know this isn't really helpful. I guess my question is: Did you actually dig into the game and poke around? I feel like the game has a lot of built in automation options that make the game less mico-management oriented.
posted by ChrisManley at 11:59 AM on May 3, 2013
But, I was pretty sure the game allowed you to have your advisers do nearly everything for you. In the cases where it wasn't automatic, they would still give the best calculated suggestion.
I found, more than many Civ games before, you could focus yourself on troop movement. I even believe you can tell your advisers what you want to focus on and they'll build your empire in that direction.
I know this isn't really helpful. I guess my question is: Did you actually dig into the game and poke around? I feel like the game has a lot of built in automation options that make the game less mico-management oriented.
posted by ChrisManley at 11:59 AM on May 3, 2013
you might look into android or iOS versions of these kinds of games...they generally have what you're looking for, just y'know...taken down a notch. (just DLd 'colony attack', an android sci-fi sim,free...haven't played yet but it looks promising) Also: portable.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:06 PM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 12:06 PM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I guess it was Civ IV where you could have a governor run an entire city.
In Civ V if you capture a city, you can have it be a puppet city, which means you don't have to run it. This helps keep the number of cities you have to manage to a minimum.
And the advisers still help.
But, I think it was Civ IV I was recalling when I was thinking about towns that run themselves from top to bottom.
posted by ChrisManley at 12:23 PM on May 3, 2013
In Civ V if you capture a city, you can have it be a puppet city, which means you don't have to run it. This helps keep the number of cities you have to manage to a minimum.
And the advisers still help.
But, I think it was Civ IV I was recalling when I was thinking about towns that run themselves from top to bottom.
posted by ChrisManley at 12:23 PM on May 3, 2013
Two simple things you can do in Civ V (I don't have it in front of me, so I don't know the exact setting names, but they should be in Advanced Setup):
- Make the world size smaller
- Make the game speed faster (this increases the amount of time that passes each game turn, which reduces build and research times)
posted by mkultra at 12:46 PM on May 3, 2013
- Make the world size smaller
- Make the game speed faster (this increases the amount of time that passes each game turn, which reduces build and research times)
posted by mkultra at 12:46 PM on May 3, 2013
Just play Civ on the easiest difficulty and set as many things to AI-controlled as you can. It's almost impossible to lose after that. Civ Revolutions is also a good option.
If you like Risk there's always Lux, which has fun user-created content.
Did you ever play Spore? The world domination stage could be fun for you, given your description of what you want.
posted by Wretch729 at 1:01 PM on May 3, 2013
If you like Risk there's always Lux, which has fun user-created content.
Did you ever play Spore? The world domination stage could be fun for you, given your description of what you want.
posted by Wretch729 at 1:01 PM on May 3, 2013
You can also play a "1 city" game - where Civs are limited to only 1 city. It's an option under the advanced game setup for single player games.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:22 PM on May 3, 2013
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:22 PM on May 3, 2013
I played Civ I-III and Civ Revolution to death but barely got out of the stone age on one game of V before being bored to tears. Managing multiple tech and culture trees and managing regular diplomacy and dumbed down city-state diplomacy. Why the added complexity? The dealbreaker was the change in rush building. I can't rush a current project with gold but I can rush any other project? Now I basically have to keep two mental queues (a shield queue and an emergency gold queue) in my head for individual city goals instead of one mental queue. They should let me forget all of that and automate a few default city growth schemes (oceanside, border conflict, science hub, trade hub.) I'm really disappointed that the series didn't try to grow up with its base and add tools for casual gamers to automate tedious parts while still leaving the micromanagement parts for people with more time to kill.
That all being said, I will tend to trust the people that say IV is better than V. And don't get me started on the Farmville inspired disappointment that was Civilization World.
posted by Skwirl at 3:58 PM on May 3, 2013
That all being said, I will tend to trust the people that say IV is better than V. And don't get me started on the Farmville inspired disappointment that was Civilization World.
posted by Skwirl at 3:58 PM on May 3, 2013
You want to play Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Really. Go download it right now.
It's the critically aclaimed, "indirect" sequel to Civ II. It's complex enough so that it will never lose its "playability," yet simple enough so that you can understand every detailed component of the game.
Seriously, I've been playing this game for years, and I'm still learning/inventing new strategies. At the transcend difficulty, the AI is insanely difficult -- the game will not get boring.
Also, when you buy the game from GOG, you get the expansion pack, Alien Crossfire (new characters, new technology -- just brilliant).
I don't know what else there is to say. I'm very much an anti video game person, but this is the one game that I've played religiously.
Now get off MeFi and go buy it.
posted by Whitall Tatum at 10:52 PM on May 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
It's the critically aclaimed, "indirect" sequel to Civ II. It's complex enough so that it will never lose its "playability," yet simple enough so that you can understand every detailed component of the game.
Seriously, I've been playing this game for years, and I'm still learning/inventing new strategies. At the transcend difficulty, the AI is insanely difficult -- the game will not get boring.
Also, when you buy the game from GOG, you get the expansion pack, Alien Crossfire (new characters, new technology -- just brilliant).
I don't know what else there is to say. I'm very much an anti video game person, but this is the one game that I've played religiously.
Now get off MeFi and go buy it.
posted by Whitall Tatum at 10:52 PM on May 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Great, thanks everyone for the suggestions. There are many good ones here!
posted by SpacemanStix at 8:22 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by SpacemanStix at 8:22 AM on May 4, 2013
Seconding Alpha Centauri. Pretty much everything can be set to "automate", so I don't have to worry much about things that are too deep for me.
posted by vasi at 10:09 AM on May 4, 2013
posted by vasi at 10:09 AM on May 4, 2013
OK, now I want to play some Alpha Centauri, which I haven't played in over a decade. What's the most straightforward path to buy + install it on OS X?
posted by mkultra at 8:15 AM on May 6, 2013
posted by mkultra at 8:15 AM on May 6, 2013
The original Alpha Centauri can run on Macs running OS X 10.6 or earlier. But I'd recommend just buying from Good Old Games. It'll run on more recent versions of OS X, and might be cheaper too.
posted by vasi at 9:31 AM on May 6, 2013
posted by vasi at 9:31 AM on May 6, 2013
vasi: "The original Alpha Centauri can run on Macs running OS X 10.6 or earlier. But I'd recommend just buying from Good Old Games. It'll run on more recent versions of OS X, and might be cheaper too."
It's $6.99.
It's $6.99 and it runs on my OS.
I hate you.
I love you, but I hate you. Note to self: you may NOT purchase this until AFTER the class you're taking for work is done and you pass the exam.
posted by Lexica at 9:57 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's $6.99.
It's $6.99 and it runs on my OS.
I hate you.
I love you, but I hate you. Note to self: you may NOT purchase this until AFTER the class you're taking for work is done and you pass the exam.
posted by Lexica at 9:57 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Flunkie at 11:38 AM on May 3, 2013 [5 favorites]